Film

Antoine Fuqua’s Denzel Washington-led ‘The Equalizer’ is based on the 1980s TV show that starred Edward Woodward as the title character. In this movie version Washington plays McCall, a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to rescue a young girl, Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), he finds himself face to face with ultra-violent Russian gangsters. As he serves vengeance against those who brutalize the helpless, McCall’s desire for justice is reawakened.

The programme for the 58th BFI London Film Festival launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. As Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals, it introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience, offering a compelling combination of red carpet glamour, engaged audiences and vibrant exchange. The Festival provides an essential profiling opportunity for films seeking global success at the start of the Awards season; promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry activities and awards line-up and positions London as the world’s leading creative city.

The Festival will screen a total of 245 fiction and documentary features, including 16 World Premieres, 9 International Premieres, 38 European Premieres and 19 Archive films including 2 Restoration World Premiere’s. There will also be screenings of 148 live action and animated shorts. A stellar line-up of directors, cast and crew are expected to take part in career interviews, master classes, Q&As and other special events. The 58th BFI London Film Festival will run October 8th-October 19th. Check out the full lineup and press release below.

While ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2′ recently crossed the $600 million threshold at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing animated movie and the seventh highest-grossing film of 2014, the third installment in the franchise has reportedly been pushed back from June 17th, 2016 to June 9th, 2017. The same creative team as the first two films, writer/director Dean DeBlois and producer Bonnie Arnold, will be back for the third film while the likes of Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera and Cate Blanchett are also slated to return. At this moment it time it’s currently unknown why the date has been changed by DreamWorks. The original film earned $494 million worldwide.

This first teaser trailer has arrived online for writer-director Michael Almereyda’s modern day adaption of Shakespeare’s ‘Cymbeline.’ Starring the likes of Ethan Hawke, Dakota Johnson, Penn Badgley, John Leguizamo, James Ransone, Delroy Lindo, Ed Harris, Anton Yelchin, Vondie Curtis-Hall and Milla Jovovich, the story unfolds as an epic battle between dirty cops and a drug dealing biker gang set in a corruption-riddled 21st century America. In the vein of ‘Sons of Anarchy’ and in the style of ‘Romeo + Juliet,’ ‘Cymbeline’ is a fresh take on a universal story of love, betrayal and revenge.

In June it was first reported that Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling were set to star in Shane Black’s 1970s-set noir flick, ‘The Nice Guys.’ Today we hear that a June 17th, 2016 release date has been penciled in for the film, confirming that ‘The Nice Guys’ will indeed be Shane Black’s next feature – he’s also attached to the film adaptation of the popular adventure book series ‘The Destroyer’ by Warren Murphy, a ‘Doc Savage’ film, and a new ‘Predator’ film.

Set in smoggy 1970s Los Angeles, the story follows Jackson Healy (muscle-for-hire, recovering alcoholic – Russell Crowe) and Holland March (private eye, practicing alcoholic – Ryan Gosling), who are brought together by the suicide of a fading porn star. However, the dead girl’s aunt is convinced she saw her niece alive and well after the highly publicized incident. March needs money, takes the case, and within days, it’s blossomed into a far-reaching murder conspiracy, bizarrely rooted in smog and the U.S. auto industry.